Halle Berry fights for funding to improve women’s care
Halle Berry gave an emotional speech on Capitol Hill, talking about the stigma around menopause.
- Actress Halle Berry is supporting a bipartisan bill in Wisconsin to increase education on menopause and perimenopause.
- The bill would require the state Department of Health Services to create and distribute informational materials about symptoms and treatments.
- Berry and state lawmakers shared personal stories of misdiagnosis and lack of information regarding menopause-related symptoms.
- Studies show a significant lack of menopause education for both medical residents and the general public.
MADISON – State lawmakers have enlisted Academy Award-winning actress Halle Berry in an effort to educate Wisconsin women about the symptoms and treatment of menopause and perimenopause.
Berry, who has emerged as a women’s health advocate after entering menopause herself, spoke with reporters via Zoom on Oct. 21 in support of a bipartisan bill to require state-led efforts on perimenopause and menopause education.
“Why are we so afraid of menopause? Because we have zero education around it. It’s stigmatized,” Berry told reporters. “We’re afraid because we are ignorant to what is happening to our bodies. That’s why education is so important and that’s why I’m here. I have real-life examples of how more education would have saved me almost four years of self-exploration and self-diagnoses.”
Berry shared her own experience, starting at age 54, of having unexplained symptoms and being wrongly diagnosed by doctors who didn’t know her issues were related to menopause and perimenopause.
Menopause occurs when women’s ovaries stop producing estrogen, a hormone that regulates their menstrual periods — causing their periods to stop. The average age women go through menopause, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, is 51.
Perimenopause occurs in the years leading up to menopause, as the amount of estrogen a woman’s ovaries produce starts to fluctuate. This often occurs in a woman’s 40s, but can happen earlier or later. Some women experience no symptoms, or only mild ones during this time. Common symptoms include menstrual cycle changes, hot flashes, trouble sleeping, vaginal dryness, increased urinary urgency and emotional changes.
Menopausal women are at a higher risk for stroke and heart attack, in part because of the loss of estrogen. Decreased estrogen levels can also contribute to an escalation of bone loss.
Berry said her ob-gyn misdiagnosed her vaginal atrophy as herpes, and another doctor misdiagnosed her dry mouth issues as an autoimmune disorder. Her eye doctor correctly tied her dry eyes and blurry vision to menopause, but was afraid to tell her that was the cause, she said.
Bill co-author Sen. Dianne Hesselbein, D-Middleton, said she was referred a few years ago to a specialist for “frozen shoulder,” not knowing at the time it could be related to menopause.
“Education and information about menopause and perimenopause has been neglected and too often ignored. Doctors are not adequately trained, and patients are not adequately informed,” Hesselbein said. “Society in general kind of treats menopause as taboo.”
According to a 2022 study by The Menopause Society, more than 90% of ob-gyn residency program directors polled in the U.S. said residents should have access to a standardized menopause curriculum, but less than one-third said their programs offer one. Another 2022 study by the international journal Women’s Health found that more than 80% of women under 40 had “no knowledge at all” or just “some knowledge” of menopause.
In the U.S., 1.3 million women enter menopause every year.
“Many women say, ‘I don’t feel like myself,’ and they deserve to know why that is and what they can do about it,” said state Rep. Robyn Vining, D-Wauwatosa. “Our bill seeks to educate Wisconsinites and help them reclaim their health.”
Hesselbein and Vining teamed up with Sen. Rachael Cabral-Guevara, R-Appleton, and Rep. Karen DeSanto, D-Baraboo, on the bill.
The proposal would require the state Department of Health Services to partner with health care providers to create informational materials that can be distributed to or accessed by women who are or will be soon be experiencing perimenopause and menopause.
Materials would cover symptoms and treatments, the biological process and how to talk about it. There is no cost associated with the bill.
“I know these years over 40 are some of the best years of a woman’s life, and we deserve to live in good health, to have good information so we can make good solid decisions for our own health,” Berry said.
Jessie Opoien can be reached at jessie.opoien@jrn.com.
